Short Interest in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) Grows By 60.6%

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) saw a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,630,000 shares, a growth of 60.6% from the October 15th total of 2,260,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 900,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rentokil Initial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 403.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial in the third quarter worth about $29,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 9.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RTO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised shares of Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Rentokil Initial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Rentokil Initial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rentokil Initial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

Rentokil Initial Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of RTO stock opened at $25.53 on Friday. Rentokil Initial has a 1 year low of $22.40 and a 1 year high of $34.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.91.

Rentokil Initial Company Profile

Rentokil Initial plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides route-based services in North America, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and internationally. It offers a range of pest control services for rodents, and flying and crawling insects, as well as other forms of wildlife management for commercial customers.